If you’ve never been to a beer dinner at the Pickled Pig Pub in Lewes, you are surely missing out! Beer Director, Ben Cowell, takes great pride in choosing beers that perfectly compliment each course while Executive Chef, Ian Mangin, hand picks each and every menu selection – making as much as possible entirely from scratch. These two work exceptionally well together to ensure that their dinner guests leave full and happy.

In the event that you’ve never been to one of these incredible dinners before, well you’re in luck because they’ve just released the full beer dinner schedule for this year. Each beer dinner usually features five courses of deliciousness and each course is usually served with a complimentary beer – with the exception of the opening course, which is usually accompanied by several samples of multiple beers. We just said “usually” too many times because Cowell likes to keep a few tricks up his sleeve. Check out what’s in store on this year’s schedule:

September 21st – RAR Brewing Co.

RAR Brewing Co. out of Cambridge, MD kicks off the beer dinner season with an Eastern Shore inspired menu! Cowell and the Pickled Pig Pub are super excited to be working with RAR for their first dinner of the season. Most of the beers will be very limited releases and most have never even been on tap in Delaware before! Check out the full menu for this dinner in the images below.

October 26th – Trick or Treat!

This beer dinner will be a Halloween/Horror Movie-themed dinner complete with costume contest and all the trimmings! This beer dinner will feature multiple breweries and while the menu has yet to be released, we are sure it will not disappoint.

December 7th – Festivus: Part 2 with Brooklyn Brewery

Brooklyn Brewery’s Chef, Andrew Gerson, is collaborating with the Pickled Pig Pub’s Executive Chef, Ian Mangin, for a Seinfeld-inspired dinner. Pickled Pig Pub did their first Festivus beer dinner two years ago and, after multiple requests for another, Cowell decided it was time to bring the theme back. Cowell recently got to go to a Brooklyn dinner hosted by Andrew in New York. “It was amazing. I asked him if he would come down and collaborate with us and he agreed! This is very exciting stuff,” Cowell told us.

January 25th – Allagash Brewing Co.

Chef Ian is going to keep the food menu without a theme for this dinner which will allow him to really flex his culinary muscles. Cowell told us, “It has been a while since we’ve done a dinner without a specific theme. I’m excited to see what he comes up with. I would also expect a lot of amazing limited release beers from Allagash!” We can’t wait to see what Chef Ian has in store for us!

March 8th – Getting Funky!

This will be the Pickled Pig Pub’s first beer dinner featuring only “wild” ales. According to BeerAdvocate, the American Wild Ale style is defined as a beer that is introduced to “wild” yeast or bacteria introducing funky or sour flavors. Cowell told us, “I love funky beers so this one should be a lot of fun also. I’ve already started hunting for all the fantastic sours I can get my hands on!”

May 10th – Mispillion River Strikes Back

This will be the third collaboration dinner the Pickled Pig Pub has done with Mispillion River Brewing Co. – the most collaborations with any brewery! Cowell explained that, “typically a few months beforehand, we sit down with Eric Williams (the owner of Mispillion) and Ryan Maloney (head brewer) to talk over beer ideas and food themes. They are a great company and it is always a great time! They always go out of their way to make sure we have something new and exciting! Last year, I tasked them with coming up with SEVEN beers we didn’t have the year before; I suspect they are going exceed my expectations this year. There is even a rumor that there might be a Brick Works course or two with Kevin Reading, the owner of Abbott’s Grill & Brick Works (Eric and Ryan are also working with the new Brick Works restaurant in Smryna, DE).”

Don’t for a second think that the Pickled Pig Pub beer dinners are just about the beer. Like we said before, Mangin takes great pride in the food he prepares for his guests and Cowell loves challenging Mangin to come up with menu items even more incredible than the last. Not to mention, most of the dinners feature a raffle where guests can win prizes ranging from hats and t-shirts to even free tickets to a future beer dinner. Regardless, good food, good beer, and good times are sure to be had by all.

Make sure to follow the Pickled Pig Pub on Facebook as Cowell will announce each menu there when it’s ready. You can also see when tickets for each event are available – definitely keep tabs on the ticket situation here because these dinners sell out and you don’t want to miss your chance to partake in this deliciousness. Is saying ‘deliciousness’ twice in the same article frowned upon? Eh, we don’t mind – we mean it!